Towson turnovers lead to record-setting defeat, 57-7 - Baltimore ...

Concerns
rise from
shoplifting
incident
Student escorted
from University
store following
accusations
ALISSA KATZ
Associate News Editor
Junior Henry Basta claims that
although he was accused of shoplifting
from the University Store, it
is the campus police who should
be reported for stealing his school
spirit.
On Monday, Basta went into the
school store with the intention of
buying school apparel before he
had to be at a scheduled University
Residence Government meeting.
He looked around the store trying
to pass some time when a
University police officer asked him
to step outside.
Basta said he was hurt by the
situation.
“I came in here and I was trying
to show my Towson pride by buying
a shirt, and they brought me out
because they thought I was stealing
things,” he said.
Katie Barth, retail operations
supervisor for the store, called in
the suspicious behavior.
The activity itself, she said, was
hard to describe.
She said she thought Basta and
one other student were signaling to
each other, behaving strangely and
not having a purpose.
Barth said she never saw the
students actually take anything,
but she did what she thought was
appropriate for her line of work.
“It’s something that when you’re
working in retail, you’re trained to
now when someone is perhaps
oing something wrong,” she said.
BOARD OF REGENTS
The University System of Maryland
Board of Regents committee on finance
voted unanimously to approve Towson’s
update to its 2003-2013 Facilities Master
Plan.
Sophomore Rebecca Fishbach, a
University store employee, said she
was never told or trained to look
out for any suspicious behavior.
According to Fishbach, she was
never told to keep an eye out on
certain types of people or certain
areas of the store that students
may be more prone to steal from.
Fortunately, Barth said she
doesn’t have to call in suspicious
situations often.
“It’s not something we do constantly,
but it is something that if
we see suspicious activity in both
the store and out in the Union we’ll
call the police,” she said.
Fishbach, who works at the store
every day, agrees that theft reports
are pretty rare.
When talking to other employees,
she says that it rarely comes up
The update, which was presented in
September, met the chancellor’s recommendation
for approval on Thursday, Oct.
1, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County.
Despite overwhelming approval from
the committee, there were some concerns
in conversation.
According to TUPD captain Joe
Herring, there have been 31 police
responses to the University store in
the last year, from Oct. 1, 2008 to
Oct. 1, 2009.
“When the police are called to
the bookstore for a situation, they
investigate that situation and take
the appropriate action,” Herring
said.
“If a report is warranted they
write one. If additional action such
as an arrest… is justified, the police
take the appropriate additional
action.”
According to sophomore special
education major Kaitlyn Johnson,
she never had problems browsing
around the store or felt like an
employee was watching her.
Freshman pre-nursing major
NEWS
Casey Prather/The TowerlightAbove,
Above, Katie Barth, retail operations supervisor for the University store, talks to University police about a shopper on Monday. Below, a
University police officer approaches a suspicious student believed to be signaling with junior Henry Basta.
Jenn Cordero assumed theft reports
were rare as well.
“Usually they don’t bother us at
with regards to the fiscal impact of the
FMP.
“The FMP will present a challenge
to the capital and operation budgets to
secure funding to support the Plan,” stated
the summary of an item for action
document.
all,” Cordero said.
-Lauren Slavin contributed to this
article.
TU Master Plan vote deemed unanimous
NICK DiMARCO
Senior Writer
Vice chancellor Joseph Vivona expanded
on the point, following the vote.
“I wouldn’t know specifically about
what would [have] happened to any individual
institution. But recently the state
received its latest revenue estimate,” he
See PLAN, page 9
The Towerlight October 5, 2009
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